


A Wise Mentor

by My_Alter_Ego



Category: White Collar (TV 2009)
Genre: Attempted Suicide, Computer Hacking, Gen, The Mob
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:53:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29106642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Alter_Ego/pseuds/My_Alter_Ego
Summary: Neal finds himself in the role of an enlightened guru when he tries to deal with a determined young hacker.
Relationships: Peter Burke & Neal Caffrey
Comments: 5
Kudos: 27





	A Wise Mentor

The kid was brilliant, and that was both a blessing and a curse. He had been shuttled between foster homes for most of his 18 years, and like a rolling stone, had gathered no moss in the form of emotional attachments. He was like an island in a very big sea of obscurity until he discovered his talent. He seemed to share his strong suit with inanimate objects, specifically computers. Like long lost souls who had found one another, a bond was formed enabling him to become an extraordinary hacker. That was his claim to fame, so an immature and insecure boy boasted of his prowess to gain some respect. Instead, it attracted the attention of the wrong people.

Some very menacing figures turned him into a black hat invader who emptied bank accounts and stock portfolios for them. That’s how he gained someone else’s attention in the White Collar division of the FBI. Peter Burke, with Neal Caffrey’s help, arrested a dumbfounded young man holed up in a crappy apartment in Queens. He refused to name the nefarious puppeteers pulling the strings, so he wasn’t offered any deals. He was set to be arraigned in Federal Court the next morning, and was probably looking at a stretch upstate in Ossining. Then, Peter got word that the foolish boy had tried to kill himself by using knotted bedsheets as a noose. He was presently being treated at a local hospital.

“Peter, this kid is probably scared out of his mind,” Neal said to his partner when he heard. “We know he was never in this for the money because he’s got bupkis in his checking and savings accounts. He lives just marginally above the poverty level, so he was probably forced into doing what he did by some scary Mob people, and now he’s just waiting for them to eliminate him as a loose end.”

“Neal, my hands are tied if he won’t cooperate,” Peter said tiredly.

“Can you get me into see him?” Neal pushed. “Maybe I can talk some sense into him before he tries to end his life again, or until somebody in the pen does manage to get to him and does it for him.”

Peter was thoughtful. “Well, you are closer to his age than anyone who’s previously spoken to him, so let me see if I can pull a few strings. Please don’t set yourself up as some kind of criminal mastermind who now has a cushy job here at the Bureau. My advice is to present yourself as a cautionary tale.”

_“Cushy job,”_ Neal murmured with raised eyebrows. “That’s not exactly how I would describe my present circumstances.”

“So, put a different spin on things; you’re good at that,” Peter quipped.

~~~~~~~~~~

Later that day, Neal was given the go-ahead for a face-to-face encounter with a dejected young man named Damon.

“Listen up, Buddy, what you tried to do was really extreme,” Neal began softly. “There’s no coming back from being dead.”

“It was the only way out of this thing,” the kid replied stonily.

“That’s not true; there’s always another way,” Neal insisted.

“Yeah? Like what?” was the sulky answer.

Neal sighed. “I really hate to say this because it’s trite and hackneyed, but sometimes you just have to hang up your personal principles and go along to get along.”

The kid finally started to show some spunk. “You listen up, _Buddy,_ that’s exactly what got me into this mess in the first place!”

“You got yourself jammed up because you bragged about your prowess,” Neal smiled softly. “Good old hubris—I know it well.”

“Is that so? Well, why don’t you impress me and tell me what you’re so good at?” the kid challenged his visitor.

Neal decided to be accommodating, so he handed the teenager his phone. “Take a minute to Google _‘Neal Caffrey,’_ then I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.”

A few minutes later, Damon looked up and didn’t seem awed. “I’ve concluded that you can’t be that good because if you were, then the FBI wouldn’t have caught you.”

“I could say the same thing about you,” Neal grinned.

Damon wasn’t an easy sell. “So, since you now work for the FBI, I assume you narced to save your own skin.”

“I didn’t narc on anybody but myself. No, that’s not right,” Neal quickly amended. “I didn’t admit to anything, but, nonetheless, it got me four years and an orange jumpsuit. Let me be candid with you, Damon. Prison is no fun. There won’t be any computers to play with inside a 6’ by 8’ cinder block cell. You’ll be rubbing shoulders with big goons who could eat you for breakfast.”

“That still doesn’t explain your present job,” the kid sneered.

“I was clever and I finagled a deal because I didn’t want to go back to prison,” Neal replied. “You could smarten up and do the same thing.”

“Yeah, sure, and then I’d have a target on my back for the remainder of however many days I have left in this world,” was the contrary answer.

Neal kept pushing. “You’re a bright boy, so control the variables. Insist that, in exchange for certain information, the Feds drop all charges against you and place you in WitSec.”

“So, I stop being me and become someone else? That’s a pretty radical tradeoff,” the kid snorted.

“News flash, Buddy. Everything in life is a tradeoff of some sort,” Neal said honestly with the hint of a grimace. “Besides, becoming someone else is like a clean slate—an opportunity to start over and paint a different picture. I’ve been there, and I’m not going to say it’s ideal, but it’s certainly better than running and looking over your shoulder for the remainder of your life.”

“You really were in WitSec?”

“Yep, from the age of 3 until I was 18 when I embarked down a new path.” Neal hoped Damon wouldn’t see the dichotomy in the situation.

The young hacker was thoughtful. “You’re sure they can make me safe?”

“You’ll be as safe as you choose to be,” Neal reassured him.

The kid was silent for several minutes. “Well, okay, I guess. Can you set it up?”

“I have friends with clout, so let me see what I can do,” were Neal’s parting words.

~~~~~~~~~~

“C’mon, Peter, it’s a win/win for everybody,” Neal cajoled later in the day.

Peter gave his CI a fond glance. “I guess that Irish gift of gab that you possess gets them every time.”

“Well, I am a con man, Peter,” Neal grinned, “but this shouldn’t be a con; it should be a legitimate deal.”

“Wow, listen to you actually lobbying for fair play,” Peter teased.

“Yeah, well, I do have my moments,” a young con man gracefully admitted.


End file.
